While catching a 3 am subway from Manhattan to Flushing today, I got caught up in a technical discussion with one of the railway workers about how the trains actually work. We talked for about an hour before the A train came (which connects to the 7 train to Flushing.)
The takeaway:
- There are three rails.
- The two uncovered rails are ground.
- The rail with the wooden cover is high voltage: 650 volts. It’s called the Third Rail.
- The train uses an electrical contact called the Shoe to connect to the Third Rail.
- Trains wear the rails and produce rail dust, which can easily create a path to ground from nearly any object. So don’t even get near the Third Rail.
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